Austin's "Indie-Guru" Filmmaker Takes the Show on the Road

July 22, 2010 - PRLog -- Bringing his Austin-centric films to audiences in theaters throughout the USA, Bob Ray’s Down & Dirty Austin Film tour includes  stops in 30 cities (dates below), and kicks off in Albuquerque, NM tomorrow, July 14. Not content to sit back and allow current independent film marketing and distribution practices to dictate the fate of his art, Ray is foregoing the old model of angling for distributors. Instead, he’s taking charge and taking his show on the road.

Producer Mike S. Ryan (“Junebug,” “Palindromes,” “Fay Grim”) captured the zeitgeist of many independent filmmakers when he noted, “Market forces are so shaping independent content that we have castrated the whole reason indie got started in the first place.”  So with a staunch DIY spirit, a running vehicle, and his innovative films in tow (“Total Badass”, “Hell on Wheels”, “Rock Opera”, and his “CrashToons”) Ray is determined not to sit idly by and allow, as Ryan put it, “innovative work that seems alien to our commercial marketplace” to be drowned out by the onslaught of mindless sequels and remakes fed to the masses from the corporate-controlled film biz.

Serving as the world premiere for Ray’s third feature, “Total Badass,” Ray’s tour delivers the Texas tale of a counter-culture renaissance man as he defiantly endures the last six months of felony probation and ultimately must change his ways when a financial crisis befalls his estranged family. Ray’s second feature film, “Hell on Wheels,” the critically acclaimed documentary chronicling the new era of roller derby mania, will also screen in cinemas along the tour.  

Grassroots through-and-through, this tour joins forces with local derby leagues (to date, 529 derby leagues operate worldwide) and film groups to serve up a slice of the Austin magic to theaters across the U.S. and Canada.  Presented by roller derby leagues, many of the “Hell on Wheels” screenings will feature post-screening discussions with reps from local leagues, as well as Ray himself, to further explore the birth of modern derby, celebrate its continuing growth and examine the connection with each local stop’s community.  “Total Badass” screenings will also feature Q&A’s with Bob Ray. For selected tour dates, the subject of the documentary, Chad Holt, will accompany Ray and share his signature brand of mayhem and humor with filmgoers.

About Bob Ray:  Under the Austin, Texas based CrashCam Films moniker, Bob Ray catapults the Austin counterculture onto the big screen, reveling in its inspiring, unique and deliriously offbeat glory. Frequently fusing comedic elements into tense and dramatic scenarios, his films push cinematic boundaries while challenging and delighting viewers.

Ray’s work includes the critically acclaimed roller derby documentary “Hell on Wheels,” myriad short films and music videos for Nashville Pussy, Riverboat Gamblers, Fuckemos, Golden Arm Trio and more. Bob Ray frequently collaborates with musical pioneers like …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and Butthole Surfers, and he has worked with The Polyphonic Spree, Black Eyed Peas, Blur, Jurassic Five, Modest Mouse, Clinic, Hank Williams III, X-Ecutioners, Eels and many other artists.  His films have screened as official selections in over 70 film festivals as well as cinemas all over the world (BAM Cinematek, SXSW, American Cinematheque at the Egyptian in L.A., Australian Centre for the Moving Image, etc.). In 2003, Ray received a High Times Magazine nomination for a Stony Award for his first feature film, “Rock Opera”.  Ray’s raucous, sidesplitting CrashToons animated shorts have been featured on Turner Network’s SuperDeluxe.com, Playboy.com and Comedy Central’s Atom.com.  

This year Bob Ray brings you the new documentary “Total Badass,” an outrageous and hilariously seedy venture into the Austin underground with wild man-about-town, social deviant, musical/stunt performer, sex addict, Guinea pig enthusiast, writer/publisher, father, weed dealing felon and Texas maniac Chad Holt.

More information and a tour schedule can be found at: http://crashcamfilms.com/filmtour2010.htm. Links to hi-res images, film info, bios, synopses, etc. can be found at: http://crashcamfilms.com/filmtour-pressinfo.htm.  


Bob Ray’s Down and Dirty Austin Film Tour

July 23 Vancouver, BC @ Rio Theatre
Midnight double-feature!!! Hell on Wheels
*with special guests Terminal City Rollergirls
Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray

July 24 Bellingham, WA @ Pickford Film Center
8:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
*sponsored by Bellingham Roller Betties

July 25 Port Orchard, WA @ Orchard Theater
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
*sponsored by Slaughter County Roller Vixens

July 26 Victoria, BC @ Victoria Event Centre
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
*sponsored by Eves of Destruction Roller Derby
9:00 Total Badass with CrashToons  *with filmmaker Bob Ray  

July 27 Tacoma, WA @ The Grand Cinema
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
*sponsored by Dockyard Derby Dames

July 29 Portland, OR @ Clinton St. Cinema
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
*sponsored by Rose City Rollers
9:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt

July 30 Seattle, WA @ Central Cinema
7:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt

July 31 Salem, OR @ Salem Cinema
Roller Derby Film Festival!!!  Hell on Wheels screening with Brutal Beauty and Blood on the Flat Track  

Aug 1 Eugene, OR @ David Minor Theater
5:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
*sponsored by Emerald City Roller Girls  

Aug 2 Chico, CA @ Cal Skate
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
*sponsored by NorCal Roller Girls  

Aug 3 Berkeley, CA @ El Cerrito Theater
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
9:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt  

Aug 4 San Francisco, CA @ Roxie Theater
7:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt
9:15 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons  

Aug 5 San Francisco, CA @ Roxie Theater
7:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt
9:15 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons  

Aug 12 Los Angeles, CA @ Echo Park Film Center
7:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt

Aug 13 Los Angeles, CA @ American Cinematheque
9:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt  

Aug 14 Phoenix, AZ @ MADCAP Theaters
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
9:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt  

Aug 15 Las Cruces, NM @ The Fountain
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons  

Aug 16 Marfa, TX @ Padre’s
7:00 Hell on Wheels with CrashToons
9:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt  

Aug 21 Austin, TX
7:00 Total Badass with CrashToons
*with filmmaker Bob Ray and Chad Holt

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